It’s payday for our other sporting heroes

There are now more opportunities for young women to become professional athletes, and while pay may not be fair, there is hope that one day the financial playing field will level

Alyssa Healy of UP Warriorz and Sophie Ecclestone of UP Warriorz during their WPL 2023 match against Gujarat Giants in Mumbai, India, this month. Picture: Getty Images

There were two huge moments recently that proved the world is becoming a better place for young women in sport – especially if you play cricket. There was Alyssa Healy, the Australian women’s cricket team captain, who remarked the formation of the $800m Women’s Indian Premier League was “going to change women’s cricket for the better”.

“It’s probably going to put a lot of pressure on other global organisations, or countries around the world, to lift,” she said.

Healy was right. A ball hadn’t been hit in the WIPL and not only had it already changed cricket for the better and put pressure on other sports to lift but it also changed the lives of sportswomen such as Ash Gardner.

Last month, Gardner’s life was turned on its head as she was auctioned to the WIPL’s Gujarat Giants for $558,000. That’s for three weeks of work.

“It’s quite a shock, it’s still quite surreal to talk about and it’s a little bit awkward, to be honest, because everyone knows what I’ve been auctioned off for,” Gardner said.

“I am just super-pumped to get over there … to earn that kind of money as a female sportsperson is unheard of.”

Indeed, the money in the WIPL is like nothing female cricketers have ever seen. There is a salary cap of more than $6m for each team, compared with the Australian women’s Big Bash cap of $366,000.

Australia’s biggest stars – Healy, Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry – earn an estimated $300,000 to $500,000 a year based on playing contracts and marketing contracts from Cricket Australia. But for some the WIPL will double their wages and in Gardner’s case it’s almost triple.

Many other talented Australians were picked up at the auction: Delhi Capitals signed Lanning for $192,000. Perry was the subject of a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Royal Challengers won with a bid of $297,000. Healy went for $122,000 to the UP Warriorz

It is an extraordinary moment when you reflect that just over two decades ago Australian women were being billed for playing the game they loved. Several years ago former Australian cricket captain Belinda Clark told The Australian she remembered receiving an invoice after international tours.

“Up until 1998 there was some portion of your tour that was invoiced to you,” Clark said. “The sporting landscape is remarkably different today, a lot more open-minded and a lot fairer.”

Clark was not alone in feeling the financial strain of playing for her country. Hundreds of Australian women have similar stories, of funding their sporting dream by selling their cars, working three jobs, holding fundraising raffles.

Another tipping point moment in recent months also involves Clark. If you walk through the Sydney Cricket Ground member gates there are bronze statues of sporting heroes forming the Walk of Honour. Now one of those statues is of Clark – the first sculpture of a female cricketer in this world. She is also the 15th member of the SCG sculpture project and the third woman – joining champion sprinters Betty Cuthbert and Marlene Mathews.

Clark, who retired in 2005, says she hopes the statue will inspire others to break the mould.

“I’m excited to have the sculpture in place and for people to now look at it and perhaps wonder what that is, who that is, and to be able to tell a bit of a story is really important,” Clark said on the day the statue was unveiled.

“The sculpture encapsulates being able to have a go – to be courageous, to take on those challenges and break convention. I want people to take away that you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it and you have good people around you, and I think I’ve been very fortunate to have had great support and have a bit of an imagination to take my game where I wanted to take it, and hopefully the sport is in a better place for it.”

While female AFL and NRL players will get pay rises year on year as their competitions expand, women’s cricket faces a huge payday. It’s no secret that some women still go into debt to fund their sporting dreams. You’ll usually find them in Olympic sports – feeling huge financial strain, usually living at home, working at supermarkets, all to fund the dream of being an Olympian.

The gender pay gap in the AFL, NRL and cricket is vast. Last year News Corp Australia revealed the stunning pay disparity in which Pat Cummins’s $200,000 captaincy bonus alone was worth more than any playing contract for a woman representing Australia. Even the No.20, lowest ranked national men’s contracted player on $316,000 is earning double that of the top women. On the upside, there are more opportunities for young women to become professional athletes. The future is bright. Pay may not be fair but there is improvement – and hope that one day the financial playing field will level.